Jeff Strange kicks off the month of March and our countdown to the St. Patrick’s Day Pa-

rade with a special concert on Friday, March 4th from 8-10 p.m. in the Grille Room. Jeff

has played in numerous bands over the years– including Donnybrook Fair, the Fabulous Newports

and Bambi Manor; but these days he works solo. His show will feature classic rock, originals and lots

of Irish tunes. Jeff puts on a great show! Don’t miss it! Ala carte dinner available 5-9 p.m. Reservations

are required. Please call the club at 518-463-1151.

Don’t miss the Annual St. Patrick’s Parade - Saturday, March 12th

The bar opens at 11:00 a.m. and we’ll begin serving our delicious corned beef & cabbage lunch buffet begin-

ning at 12 noon. We’ll also have chicken tenders and fries for the kids and a fish option. Lunch buffet - $15.95

adults; $10.95 children under 12.

Then watch the parade from the front lawn or the living room. The parade starts at 2:00 p.m. at Central Avenue

and Quail Street and will proceed down Washington Avenue right in front of the club. Be sure to arrive early to

get a parking spot and avoid street closures! This is a VERY popular event and seating is limited. Reservations

are necessary, so please make reservations

The Easter Bunny is coming early this year. Make plans to join us on Sunday, March 27th for

the Annual Easter Family Buffet and enjoy a delicious meal in the company of family and

friends. The bar opens at 11:30 a.m. and the buffet will be available from 12:00 noon until

2:30 p.m. This year’s menu will feature: Baked Scrod with Fennel and Lemon; Roast

Prime Rib, Roast Leg of Lamb; Homemade Macaroni and Cheese; Garlic Mashed Pota-

toes; Mixed Green Salad; Fresh Seasonal Vegetable. Chef Kevin will also be whip-

ping up a special dessert just for the occasion. $23.95 Adults; $10.95 children un-

der 12 (beverages additional). Reservations are necessary and must be made by Friday, March

25th. Call the Club at 518-463-1151.

Join author, and long-time University Club member, Bruce Venter on

Tuesday, March 29th for a discussion of his new book Kill Jeff Davis:

The Union Raid on Richmond, 1864 (University of Oklahoma Press, 2016).

Meet the Author reception from 6-7 p.m. with light fare and cash/sign bar

after which Dr. Venter will discuss and sign his book. Books will be

available for purchase courtesy of The Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza.

Historians have largely neglected the story of Brigadier General Judson

Kilpatrick’s 1864 raid on Richmond, Virginia–ostensibly organized to

free some 13,000 Union men held at Libby Prison and on Belle Isle. Now, recently-

uncovered primary sources paint a different picture of what really happened.

Continued on page 2...

2

Steve Berry, a master of

thrillers with a historic

twist, will launch the na-

tional tour for his latest

book, The 14th Colony

(Minotaur Books, April 5, 2016), at

a History Happy Hour on Friday,

April 1st from 5:30–8:00 p.m. at

the University Club.

Berry is a philanthropist

and author whose foun-

dation, History Matters,

raises funds for a variety

of historic preservation

projects around the world. He is a

fixture on the New Y ork Times best-

seller lists with 20 million books in

print in 40 languages in 51 countries.

The evening begins with a Meet the

Author hors d’oeuvres reception at

5:30 p.m. followed by a talk featur-

ing Berry’s well-known wit and his-

torical insight at 7:00 p.m. and a

book signing immediately afterward.

This History Happy Hour is the 4th in

a series of events presented in part-

nership with the Museum Associa-

tion of New York (MANY); Albany

Heritage Area Visitors Center; and

Partners for Albany Stories (PASt);

and sponsored by the Albany Insti-

tute of History & Art; Historic Alba-

ny Foundation; Friends of Schuyler

Mansion; Hudson River Valley Na-

tional Heritage Area; and the City of

Albany Office of Special Events and

Cultural Affairs. The event is hosted

by the University Club Foundation.

Tickets are $20 per person in ad-

vance, $25 at the door. Books will be

available for purchase and signing

for $25.

Reservations please. Call the Univer-

sity Club at 518-463-1151 or visit

www.universityclubalbany.com to

reserve tickets.

Join us after History Happy

Hour for music with Geo

Doody in the Gr ille Room

from 8–10 p.m. Geo plays

music from the 1940s to to-

day, with a mix of Rock, Pop, R&B,

and Irish Pub Standards. He is a self-

described history nerd – perfect for

History Happy Hour!

The performance is free as part of

the University Club Foundation’s

participation in 1st Friday. Ala carte

dinner available from 5-9 p.m. Res-

ervations required. Call the Club

at 518-463-1151.

History Happy Hour will be fol-

lowed the next day, Saturday, April

2nd, by a Writer’s Workshop -

Lessons from a Bestseller from

9:30 a.m.– 1:30 p.m. at the Huxley

Theater at the NYS Museum.

The workshop covers all aspects of

fiction writing from structure and

point of view to dialogue and charac-

ter, and much more. The material is

appropriate for memoir, creative non

-fiction and historical writing. Steve

Berry’s wife, Elizabeth, executive

director of International Thriller

Writers, will lead a session at the

workshop on the Business of Writ-

ing.

The cost for the Writer’s Workshop,

which includes refreshments, is $75.

Books will be available for purchase

and signing for $25.

Pre-registration is required. Call the

University Club at 518-463-1151 or

visit www.universityclubalbany.com

to reserve tickets.

A portion of the proceeds from the

History Happy Hour and Writers

Workshop will support heritage tour-

ism efforts in the City of Albany.

Learning new things from page one

Venter describes an expedition that

was carefully planned but poorly

executed. A host of factors foiled the

raid: bad weather, poor logistics,

inadequate command and control,

ignorance of the terrain, the failures

of supporting forces, and the leaders’

personal and professional shortcom-

ings.

The purported goal of the controver-

sial Kilpatrick-Dahlgren Raid on

Richmond (February 28–March 3,

1864) was to free some 13,000 Un-

ion prisoners of war held in the Con-

federate capital. But orders found on

the dead body of the raid’s subordi-

nate commander, Colonel Ulric

Dahlgren, point instead to a plot to

capture or kill Confederate president

Jefferson Davis and set Richmond

ablaze. What really happened, and

how and why, are debated to this

day. Kill Jeff Davis offers a fresh

look at the failed raid and mines

newly discovered documents and

little-known sources to provide de-

finitive answers.

In a lively narrative describing the

multiple problems that beset the raid-

ers, Kill Jeff Davis uncovers new

details about the African American

guide whom Dahlgren ordered

hanged; the defenders of the Confed-

erate capital, who were not just the

“old men and young boys” of popu-

lar lore; and General Benjamin F.

Butler’s expedition to capture Davis,

as well as Custer’s diversionary raid

on Charlottesville.

There is no cost for the program but

reservations are required and may

be made by calling the Club at 518-

463-1151; by sending an email to

ellen@universityclubalbany.com; or

by visiting the Club’s website at

www.universityclubalbany.com. The

event is sponsored by the University

Club Foundation.

3

The Membership Committee would like to welcome the following new

members to the University Club family:

Elaine Smith is a 1976 graduate of Siena College and was sponsored

by Tim Varney and Nate Maloney.

Paul Ertelt is a 1987 graduate of the University of Oregon and is

also sponsored by Tim Varney and Nate Maloney.

Donovan Johnson is the Managing Director for Don International,

LLC and a 1998 graduate of Boston University. He was sponsored by

Amy Kramer and Nate Maloney

Bob Mackin is President and CEO at Mackin & Casey and a 1955

graduate of Fordham University. He was sponsored for membership by

Teresa Casey and Colleen Ryan.

Albany Torch Club Dinner Speaker

“Follow the Money”

Michael Harrison

Administrative Law judge (ret.)

Economist, Author

Monday, March 7

University Club members are invited.

Cocktails (sign/cash) begin at 5:30

p.m. followed by the speaker and din-

ner. $30.00. Reservations are required

and must be made directly through the

Torch Club by contacting Pat Fish-

bough at sewdance81@gmail.com.

Albany Roundtable Lunch Speaker

Dr. Karl Lawrence

Wednesday, March 9 at noon

Dr. Lawrence, dean, Excelsior Col-

lege School of Business and Technol-

ogy, will explore the intersection of

higher education and the private sec-

tor, and the role academic-industry

partnerships can play in supporting

our region's competitiveness in the

global economy.

$20- hot & cold buffet. Reservations

are required by Tuesday, 03/08. Call

the Capital Region Chamber at 518-

431-1400, send an email to albany-

roundtable@yahoo.com, or prepay at albanyroundtable.blogspot.com.

The Zonta Club of Albany

presents their Annual Status

of Women Program on

March 9th with special

guest speaker Carol Whit-

taker who will discuss public health

challenges facing women in Malawi,

one of the poorest countries in the

world. Prof. Whittaker is a professor

and assistant dean at the University at

Albany and holds a faculty appoint-

ment at the University of Malawi Col-

lege of Medicine.

Cocktails begin at 5:30 p.m.; followed

by dinner 6 p.m. $35.00 Entrée choic-

es: filet mignon, chicken francaise and

eggplant involtini. Reservations may

be made by calling the Club at 518-

463-1151.

The Capital District Planners Associ-

ation has put together a Local Lead-

ers Series during which attendees

will learn about exciting new and

ongoing municipal planning, trans-

portation, and economic develop-

ment initiatives from mayors and

supervisors themselves.

The first in the series will be held at

the University Club on Tuesday,

March 15th from 12-1:30 p.m.

Albany Mayor Kathy

Sheehan will discuss

current planning and

economic develop-

ment initiatives for

the City and give

updates on work in

progress.

This event is open to the public. $20

- includes hot & cold lunch buffet.

For more info. contact Martin Da-

ley at daleyplanit@gmail.com;

518- 894-2195 or find out more and

RSVP at http://tinyurl.com/cdpa-

031516.

More April Events

Mark Your Calendar

Book Talk, Signing and Wine Tasting

Author Steve Casscles

will discuss his recent

book, Grapes of the

Hudson Valley And

Other Cool Climate

Regions of the Unit-

ed States on the

evening of April 19th.

Dinner, Book Talk and Signing

The University Club Foundation and

the English Speaking Union host and

co-sponsor a book discussion with

British author James MacManus on

Friday, April 22nd.

McManus is the Man-

aging director of The

Times Literary Sup-

plement and his new-

est historic novel

Midnight in Berlin, is

set to be released on

Tuesday, April 19.

We are still hammering out the de-

tails. Stay tuned...

Officers: Nate Maloney, President

Amy Hines-Kramer, Vice President

Tim Varney, Treasurer

Secretary, Robert Crudden

Colleen Ryan, Past President

Directors: Mark Brogna

Teresa Casey

Meredith Helgerson

Jeffrey Hill

David Hochfelder

Geoffrey Hoderath

Ken McCauley

Frank Nemeth

Chuck Seifert

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1 Lunch & Dinner Yoga 4 pm

2 Lunch 3 Lunch 4 Lunch & Dinner Jeff Strange in the

Grille 8-10 pm

5 Club Closed

6 Club Closed

7 Lunch & Dinner

Torch Club Dinner Speaker 6 pm

Yoga noon Bowling 7 pm

8 Lunch & Dinner Yoga 4 pm

9 Lunch

Albany Roundtable Lunch Speaker noon ____________________________________________

Zonta Dinner Speaker 5:30 pm

10 Lunch 11 Lunch & Dinner 12

St. Pat Parade Corned Beef and Cabbage Buffet

Bar open 11:30 am

13 Club Closed

14 Lunch & Dinner Yoga noon Bowling 7 pm

15 Capital District Planners lunch with Mayor Sheehan noon

Yoga 4 pm

16 Lunch 17 Lunch 18 Lunch & Dinner 19 Club Closed

20 Club Closed

21 Lunch & Dinner Yoga noon Bowling 7 pm

22 Lunch & Dinner Yoga 4 pm

23 Lunch 24 Lunch 25 Lunch & Dinner 26 Club Closed

27

Easter Buffet 12-2:30 p.m.

28 Lunch & Dinner Yoga noon Bowling 7 pm

29 Lunch & Dinner

Meet the Author Reception 6 pm

30 Lunch 31 Lunch APRIL 1 Lunch/Dinner

History Happy Hour w/Steve Berry 5:30-8:00 pm

2 Club Closed